Tis better people think you a fool, then open your mouth and erase all doubt.

A fool will think you are an idiot if you talk sense to him.

Wise men speak when they have something to say, fools speak because they have to say something

One will seem to promote virtue better by using encouragement and persuasion of speech than law and necessity. For it is likely that he who is held back from wrongdoing by law will err in secret but that he who is urged to what he should by persuasion will do nothing wrong either in secret or openly. Therefore he who acts rightly from understanding and knowledge proves to be at the same time courageous and right-minded.

Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.

Any fool can tell the truth, but it requires a man of some sense to know how to lie well.

Before a man speaks it is always safe to assume that he is a fool. After he speaks, it is seldom necessary to assume it.

The cleverest of all, in my opinion, is the man who calls himself a fool at least once a month.

If you do not wish a man to do a thing, you had better get him to talk about it; for the more men talk, the more likely they are to do nothing else.

[Man] progresses in all things by resolutely making a fool of himself.

Wise men talk because they have something to say; Fools, because they have to say something.

When you want to fool the world, tell the truth.

Speak wisdom to a fool and he'll think you have no sense at all

the wise may be instructed by a fool